GE's Immelt empathizes with Occupy Wall Street

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- General Electric's CEO Jeff Immelt said Monday he empathizes with the grievances of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

"Unemployment is 9.1% and underemployment is much higher than that, particularly among young people that don't have a college degree," he said. "It is natural to assume people are angry, and so I think we have to be empathetic and understand that people are not feeling great."

Meanwhile, 14 million Americans remained unemployed, a problem Immelt is tasked with solving as the head of President Obama's Jobs Council.

Last week, that council presented a 5-point proposal to the president, pushing for investments in infrastructure and energy, efforts to attract more foreign investment, simpler regulations, better education and more help for small businesses.

On Monday, Immelt also stressed the importance of increasing U.S. exports as a key driver of economic growth and job creation.

Obama is trying to double the nation's exports by 2015, a goal that seems to be on track. But Immelt believes the country needs to be even more aggressive, modeling its strategy after Germany, where exports account for more than a third of the country's output.

In comparison, exports only account for about 13% of the U.S. economy.

"They play hard, they play to win, and they play for exports," he said. "I think we can compete and we can compete very well, but we're not all the way in, the way the Germans are in."

He said GE is focusing on Russia as a key area for growth, as well as other emerging markets including energy-rich nations in Africa.

Immelt also said he believes the United States can compete head-on with China, the world's largest exporter, not only globally but within China as well.

"Now's our time. There are 25 airports under construction in China today. There's none under construction in the U.S." he said. "They're going to buy more airplanes. We can win all of that activity if we want to."

GE was highly criticized this year for not having to pay any U.S. income taxes in 2010. Immelt said Monday that GE's tax rate will be above 30% this year, and he expressed his support for tax reform that eliminates corporate loopholes.